Another Incident in Dodge
by SingerMe
Summary: A sequel to Incident in Dodge
1. Chapter 1

**ANOTHER INCIDENT IN DODGE**

I don't own these characters. I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.

**AN: I wrote a story called Incident in Dodge a while back and several people asked me for a sequel. I wrote this not long after that but I wasn't satisfied with it so I just tucked it away in a back corner of my computer to look at later. Well, my computer is sick and I've had to clean it out. I found this lingering back there in that corner, ragged and dirty and heavily weighted down with all manner of other stuff sitting atop of it. I felt sorry for this poor little story, so I pulled it out, cleaned it off and uncrimped the corners a little. It's still a little worse for the wear and the ripped edges have been inexpertly taped but hopefully, it'll be okay. **

**By the way, my computer is still down so if I don't respond quickly, please forgive me. I'm borrowing someone else's computer and only have limited access right now.**

**(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(M&K*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)**

Come in! I said, come in! Oh, goodness. Here I am in my all together and someone comes calling and won't even come in when I tell em to. Don't they know how hard it is for me to get up? Ugh! Oh well, better let em in before they knock the door down.

Oh! Hello there! I didn't expect you. You know you should've called and I could've had a cake baked and made some coffee or something. And the house is a mess and my hair's a mess and…Well, never mind. Excuse my manners and come on in. Good to see you.

How's the weather out there? Looks awful gloomy. I haven't ventured out myself. Too cold and too hard on these old bones, if ya know what I mean. Would you care for some coffee or something? I don't keep libations anymore, my daughter, ya know. She says it's bad for me. Heavens, if she only knew…. Well, let's not go into that. What can I do for you?

Oh? You want to know more about my friends? Well, I understand the interest, I mean, they were fascinating people but… well… well, I've practically told you all I can. I mean you know how I came to meet them and how they came to leave town and… Oh! Oh, I see. You want to know about the time in between.

Well, there really isn't a whole lot that was interesting. You know, we all got up each morning… well, most folks anyway. Those of us who worked till the wee hours of the morn usually didn't greet the dawn none too cheerfully. But anyways, we all got up each day at least, did our jobs, lived our lives and went to bed at night satisfied until the next day.

I really can't think of… oh, wait. You know there was that one night… it was… it was… well, it was like this.

I had been in town about… ut oh. Uh, tell ya what. You have a seat, make yourself comfortable and I'll be back in a jiffy. I think those water pills I took are beginning to work. I'll be right back. Just make yourselves comfortable. Won't be too long at all, I promise.

I hope.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for waiting. I'm sorry I took so long but well when I… er… never mind. Anyway…. Uhm… can I get you all some coffee or some…thing? Oh, right, story. Sorry, but you know how it is. My mind gets wandering and then I… See? There I go again.

Well, let's see now. What was I going to tell you? I remember… Oh, yeah, that's it. I was going to tell you about the stranger. I was in town about two weeks, I think, may have been three, but I think more like two.

Anyway, I was working that night. It was busy but not too bad. We had some cowboys in there blowing off steam and a few gamblers ready and willing to help relieve them of their money as well. We had a couple of farmers and this one other man that I'll never forget if I live to be a hundred. And I'm not too far from there now, so you understand what I mean.

Now, before I say anything else, I have to explain why I won't forget him. And there are several reasons for that. First off, he was tall. Not as tall as the Marshal, but he wasn't short by no means. I'd say maybe 6' 4" or thereabouts. He was also… well… built. I mean BUILT! He had these arms that looked like he did nothing all day but carry around anvils and a nice broad chest and these well-muscled legs and a tapered waist and… uh, ahem. Well, let's just say he was very well built in just about every place that counts in a man, to a woman at least. If you know what I mean. (raises brow and winks)

And then there was his face. Now, I told you before didn't I? I mean about how good looking the Marshal was? Yeah, I thought so. That's something everybody remarked on, I mean about how good looking he was. Yeah, well, this fella was too. Although his hair wasn't as curly or as dark as the marshal's, it was all there and styled right nice it was. He had a rather well shaped nose and two beautiful hazel eyes and this wonderfully deep, rich voice. I'll tell ya, he was something to behold.

What's that you ask? Why didn't I go after him? What makes you think I didn't? You gotta remember, this was before I met my husband so I wasn't being held back by nobody. But he was, you see. Cause the minute he stepped into that saloon, he had eyes for only one woman and it wasn't me or any of the other girls. It was Miss Kitty he wanted. Lord, the look in that man's eyes when he saw her… Ummmmm. I'll tell ya, it was all over but the writing when he saw her.

I guess, with the way he looked and all, he was used to women just swooning over him everywhere he went and he probably thought Miss Kitty would as well, but he got himself a rude awakening, I'll tell ya. She smiled at him and all and even took him a drink to his table herself, but that was about it. When he asked her to sit with him, she just smiled, shook her head and went on back to the bar.

I already told you how it was with her and the Marshal so you can guess she wasn't about to give this man, no matter how handsome he was, a tumble. But this man, well, he was surely a stranger to not only Dodge, but the territory as well cause he didn't seem to know nothing about Marshal Dillon and didn't look like he'd cared if he did.

The only thing that man had on his mind that night was the beautiful red head that owned the saloon. Or at least it looked that way till later.

Now, before I go on here, I need to make sure you understand something. This man, taken with Miss Kitty as he was, still wasn't pushy or nothing. I mean, he didn't try and make her pay him no mind or nothing and he sure wasn't grabby or demanding like some men can be. He simply asked her to sit with him and have a drink. When she said no, he smiled, nodded and said something about maybe later or some such thing like that. He was real polite.

But he was also real interested no matter what he said. I may not know as much about men as Miss Kitty did, certainly didn't back then, new as I was, but it didn't take no expert to see he wanted her. He watched every move she made as she moved around the bar room. And every time she come near his table, he'd said something real soft and sweet like… Well, once he told her he liked the way she smelled, like Lilac, I believe he said. And then another time, he told her how pretty her hair was. Oh, he was full of compliments for Miss Kitty, that one was.

Huh? You're gonna have to speak up, my hearing aid battery's a dying, I think. Hang on, let get this sucker out of my ear… Ouch! That hurt. Hang on. Just let me change this out. …. …. …. There! That's got it. Now… Yep, that was it. The battery was dying. Now what was you asked?

Oh! How'd I know what he was doing? Hahahaha I was sitting at the table next to him with old Homer Abels. Homer was a lonely old farmer, lived just east of town. He'd come in ever so often and he'd just want to sit and talk for a while. Since that was part of my job, that's what I done. And since I was that close to the stranger's table, I heard everything he said, saw everything he did too. You see, I was sitting on Homer's left side and the stranger was sitting just slightly to his right. Gave me a real good view of his… er… of him.

Huh? Miss Kitty? Oh, she ignored him. Well, as much as she could anyway. I mean, she wasn't rude to him or anything and when he asked for a refill of his drink, she brought it with a smile. But she didn't encourage him or nothing. She was just being a good business owner. She didn't really pay him much more heed than she did anyone else.

I think that's why she was so taken off guard when he defended her the way he did. I know, I haven't told you that part yet. Sheesh, give an old woman a chance will ya? I'm gonna tell ya. I just… ut oh, sorry. I gotta go again. Them dang pills is supposed to help my heart, the doctor said. But so far all they've done is keep my legs in shape cause of all the running back and forth to the bathroom I do.

Hang on, I'll be right back.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

"Okay, here I am. Tell you what, it's a darn good thing that bathroom's close cause… well it just is. Say, are you all sure you wouldn't like some coffee or something? I got some peanuts there in a dish if you'd prefer. The chocolate's all gone from them, but the peanuts is still good. I can't eat em. They get stuck in my dentures. No? Okay. Just asking.

Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, the stranger and the Marshal. What? What do you mean I haven't mentioned the Marshal? Really? Well, trust me. He'll come into this story in just a little bit.

Well, anyway. The tall, good looking stranger sat in that bar for maybe two hours or more just watching Miss Kitty and flirting with her every time she come near. Like I said before, he didn't cause no trouble and he didn't push but he made it known he was interested.

Miss Kitty, though she was polite and all, just went about her business and paid his interest no heed. Well, that was until Grady Hicks come in. Now Grady was a low down, no count fool that didn't have the sense God gave a goose on his good days. And when he walked into the saloon that night, you could tell it wasn't one of his good days.

His shaggy blonde hair was all dirty as was his ragged clothes. One look into his bloodshot blue eyes and you could tell he was already drunk before he ever set foot in the Long Branch. Miss Kitty was in the back of the saloon when he came in or I can guarantee ya she'd a sent him right on back out when she got a whiff of him.

But she didn't catch sight of him until he'd already spotted her and was heading in her direction. "Hey, Kitty!" He yelled with glee. "Ain't ya glad to see me?"

"NO!" Miss Kitty shook her vehemently. "I'm not. What are you doing in here, Grady? It smells like you've already had enough for one night."

"Why, I come to see you, Darlin'." He grinned and snaked out a hand, grabbing her arm and pulling her tightly to him. "I figured you and me could maybe, have us a drink or something upstairs." He leered wildly at her, making his intentions clear.

"Let the lady be." A deep beautiful voice suddenly spoke up. "It's pretty obvious she wants nothing to do with you."

All heads swiveled to see the tall handsome stranger as he stood and dropped his hand close to the butt of his gun. He was making his intentions clear too, ya see. You know, thinking back on it, I don't reckon, I ever saw anyone, sides the Marshal, and my husband of course, ever look so good as that man did as he stood there demanding that Grady leave Miss Kitty alone.

I mean, not only was he just down right gorgeous but he was so… so… oh, what's the word? You know. He was… he was… Heroic! That's the word. He was heroic as he stood there and there weren't too many there that night that wasn't impressed by it.

I sure was. Dang, he was a sight, standing there ramrod straight with his shoulders squared and his head high and that hand just a hovering over that pistol. Lord, I wanted to swoon and I'm not the swooning type.

Huh? Oh, Miss Kitty wasn't doing too much at all there for a second or two. I think she was as stunned as the rest of us. And then there was the fact that she was hurting pretty bad too. You see Grady had him a real tight hold on her arm and when she tried to jerk it free, he wrenched it behind her back and pulled it up tight. I was afraid for a minute or two he was going to break it. I think she was too.

But finally, I guess she decided a broken arm would be worth getting away so she pulled her leg up a might and just stomped down as hard as she could on his right foot. You talk about a man howling? Oh, Lord he just outright yelled. But he also let go of her arm and she got herself away from just as quick as a wink, which is exactly what Mr. Hero was waiting for.

The second Miss Kitty was away from Grady, the tall handsome one, took a step forward, raised a fist and punched old Grady so hard his teeth rattled. As soon as Grady went down, he stepped over him and went straight for Miss Kitty. "You alright, Miss?" His voice was as smooth as butter, I tell ya.

Miss Kitty nodded as she rubbed her arm where old Grady had gripped it so hard. "I'm alright." That's when she actually paid more than just scant attention to her rescuer and she smiled brightly. "I sure want to thank you, Mister. I appreciate it."  
>"Shoot, Ma'am." He shrugged. "I didn't do too much. For a lady like you, I'd done a lot more than that if need be."<p>

Now it was right that second that the Marshal pushed his way into the saloon and took in the spectacle of Miss Kitty grinning up into the beautiful hazel eyes of this gorgeous man and he was a grinning back. Sam had gone and fetched him, you see. When the Marshal got there, he didn't look none too happy.

"Kitty?" He kept his voice neutral and low but the way he was a looking at her said what he didn't. "What happened here?"

Now stop right there. I see that look on your face and you're wrong. Miss Kitty didn't shrink away from the stranger when the Marshal walked in and she didn't look guilty of nothing, cause she wasn't. She didn't do nothing wrong at all. And neither did that handsome man. But the Marshal didn't know that at first and boy if looks could harm, that stranger would've been in a world of hurt.

"Oh, it's nothing, Matt." Miss Kitty sighed. "Just Grady pulling one of his usual stunts. But Mr…" She looked questioningly at the man and he graciously swept his hat off of his head and bowed slightly to her.

"Cole Travers, Ma'am. At your service."

"Mr. Travers, here, challenged him and then knocked him out." I'm not sure but I still swear she looked kinda amused at the gallant way he acted and the jealous look the Marshal gave him and he did look jealous. Not murderous jealous mind you but he sure didn't look happy either, no matter what Mr. Travers did for Miss Kitty.

Well, that was until he tore his eyes off of Mr. Travers and looked down at Miss Kitty. It was then that his expression softened and he relaxed a little. She always did have that effect on him. Of course, just cause he was looking all doe eyed at her, didn't mean he wasn't paying attention to nothing else.

I'll tell you what, that man had... Oh no. Lord, I swear I'm gonna throw them pills away. Either that or move the bathroom in here where it'd be more convenient. You all stay put. I'll be right back and finish this little tale. Oh and don't be shy, go ahead and eat them peanuts. There may still be some chocolate on some of em.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry again. I know, I know, but you all ain't old like I am and you don't have to take as many pills and well… well, I just hope you all don't ever get like this. What? Oh, no! No! I didn't mean it like that! Of course I want you all to live long enough to get old. Surely, I don't want ya dying young, I just don't want you to have to take so many pills and such like I do, that's all.

Are you sure you don't want them peanuts? Oh, okay. Back to the story. Now, let's see. I was just at the part where the Marshal was looking down at Miss Kitty when he suddenly froze kinda.

Ya know, sometimes, I thought that man had eyes in the back of his head. I especially thought that, that night. Cause just as he turned to smile at Miss Kitty, he just quickly whipped around, pushed Miss Kitty behind him, pulled his gun and fired down at Grady Hicks, hitting him in the shoulder, which caused ol' Grady a considerable amount of pain and he dropped the gun he was holding and pointing at my boss.

You coulda heard a pin drop when that happened. Nobody saw that Grady had come to, pulled his gun and was aiming on shooting Miss Kitty. Well, nobody but the Marshal that is. He saw him and he stopped him. After he done it, he didn't sweep his hat off his head or bow or nothing, but he didn't have to. It was pretty clear who Miss Kitty thought was the real hero that night, just by the way she looked up at him.

"Matt?" She called out and quickly gave him one of those long sweeping glances she was prone to, you know just to make sure he wasn't hurt or nothing. She always did that when he was anywhere near a gun that wasn't in a holster.

The Marshal just offered her a brief smile like he usually did. "I'm alright, Kitty." He said as he grabbed Grady's gun from him and then looked around, nodding at a couple of cowboys leaning on the bar. "Couple of you men; get him up to Doc, will ya?"

Obediently, the two men stepped forward, grabbed Grady Hicks and hustled him out in a hurry. I'm not sure if they did it cause he was hurt so bad or they were afraid he'd get hurt worse if he stayed in the Marshal's sight for much longer. Either way, they got him out of there in a hurry.

"You got yourself a pretty fast draw there, Marshal." Mr. Travers, who'd almost been forgotten, spoke up just then. "I'm bound to be impressed."

"I wasn't too concerned with impressing you." Marshal Dillon told him. "I was trying to keep him from shooting Kitty."

"Well, I'm impressed anyway." Travers gave the Marshal a curt nod then did something none of us saw coming. He took two steps back, widened his stance and once again dropped his hand to his gun. "Gonna make taking you all the better. Gonna make taking your woman even better than that, knowing I killed you first."

Now, I don't know how you all would've reacted had you seen this sudden development, but I know how me and everyone else reacted. Except for Miss Kitty, we all gasped and took ourselves a big step backwards.

Now Miss Kitty, she was a different breed than most of us. Instead of hightailing it out of there, she stepped closer to the Marshal. She was always like that, you know, defending him if she could, trying to protect him. She surely did love that man.

And the Marshal, well, he wasn't too good at saying it, most times, he wasn't too good at showing it, but there were times, like that night, that you could tell, he loved her too.

"Get back, Kitty." He demanded as he turned completely towards this Travers fella, who suddenly wasn't nearly as handsome as I thought at first. Miss Kitty didn't move an inch, but Sam gently took her arm and finally she stepped off to the side. Not too far but far enough to keep from getting hit by a wild shot.

Dropping his own hand to his own gun, the Marshal looked Travers square in the face. "What's this about Mister? You got a quarrel with me?"

"Nope." Travers smiled. "I just heard a lot about you. Always wondered if you were as quick with a gun as I heard and I finally decided to find out."

"I see." Mr. Dillon shook his head in irritation. "You think killing me is going to build your reputation, do you?"

Now, like I told before, I hadn't been in town for too awfully long by this time but even by then, I knew the Marshal didn't like things like this. He hated gunfights and avoided them if he could. But this night, even a blind man could see that he wasn't going to be allowed to avoid this one.

Looking over at Miss Kitty, I could see she knew it too, as did Sam cause he moved a step closer to her and looked like he was prepared to protect her should the need arise. Like I said, it wouldn't have been out the realm of possibility for her to throw herself in front of a bullet for the Marshal if she thought it necessary.

But, thank the good Lord, it wasn't necessary. Though the Marshal would've been quite happy to just stand and discuss the situation for a while, Travers obviously wasn't and he didn't answer Marshall Dillon's question save for pulling his gun and firing.

Ya know, I don't reckon I ever saw anyone, and I do mean, ANYONE as fast or as accurate as Mr. Dillon was with that gun of his. Even though that black hearted Travers drew first and was surely extremely quick on the draw, he had nothing on Marshal Dillon. In mere seconds, it was all over but the gun smoke and Travers laid dead on the floor of the saloon, a bullet straight to the heart.

Miss Kitty, of course, wasted no time in scooting across to the Marshal and he wasted no time and turning to look at her, you know, kinda making sure she was alright. When he was sure she was, he turned all Marshal again.

What's that you ask? What do I mean by his turning all Marshal again? Well, just that. He went from being Miss Kitty's man to a law man in nearly the blink of an eye.

In no time flat, he had a couple fella's hauling that Travers out of the saloon down to Percy Crumps place and he had questioned everyone about what they'd seen and did they know this man and all that law stuff he had to do any time something like that happened. It was pretty impressive, if you wanta know something. He was thorough and calm and all, just as if he hadn't had a shootout not five minutes before.

Quite a few of us just kinda stood still for a few minutes watching him in awe until Sam kinda hollered at us to get back to work. Now, don't misunderstand me, he wasn't mean or nothing, he was actually really nice about it, but we understood we had to quit gaping at the Marshal and get back to business. Well, all of us except Miss Kitty.

She didn't say nothing and she didn't just fall all apart or gasp or cry or anything like that, but you could tell that little incident kinda took the starch out of her for a little bit. Marshal could sure tell it, because as soon as he got the dead man taken care of and his questions answered, he turned back to her, real gentle like and took her arm, leading her over to the bar.

I was back to sitting with Homer, who by this time was so drunk that the gunfight barely phased him, so I didn't hear what Marshal Dillon told her. But I saw her look up at that big man with such love it wasn't even funny. And I saw the Marshal return every bit of that to her with nothing more than a smile. Boy, those two did have a way of talking without saying nothing.

Anyways, whatever the Marshal said to her quietly, she nodded and watched him as he turned and strode on out of that saloon, heading back to the jail. I suppose to fill out reports or whatever. Now, I know this little incident wasn't nothing all that important or all that different from what I'm sure happened many times before. But I wasn't present at all those other times, other than to just hear about them.

But this here time, I was present and I saw just how deep the connection was between my boss and her Marshal first hand that night. It wasn't the only time I saw that of course, but it was the first time and it'll always stick with me the love I saw between them as they stood for those few brief moments at the end of the bar and he looked down at her with a gentle smile. My, oh my, even after all these years, it still takes my breath away.

Excuse me? What'd you ask, little girl? What happened next? Well, nothing, nothing right then, at least. Like I said, the Marshal went on back to his jail or wherever he needed to go, we all went back to work and Miss Kitty went into her office for a spell. When she came back out, she was all smiles and we finished up the night like we did any other time.

Of course, now, after the saloon was closed, well, there was one more tiny little thing that happened but it wasn't none to reportable in the light of day really. No, really, it wasn't that much it was just… well… well, it was after everything had been cleaned up and those who didn't actually live in the saloon went home.

I had already gone up to my room and turned my covers back and was just getting ready to climb into bed when I heard this here creak on the back stairs. There was one of those stairs that always creaked when you stepped on it and that was what I heard. Well, as you can imagine, first thing I thought of was that dead man lying down at Percy's and I was wondering if maybe he had a friend coming to finish what he couldn't.

Now, I know, most normal people would've turned off the lights, jumped into bed and pulled the covers over their heads but I never claimed to be normal. Not that night anyway. I'm not really sure why, may never know, but for some reason, I just had to take myself a look out into that hallway to see who it was out there. So I did. I put out my light and then crept to the door and cracked it just a hair and looked out.

I tell you what, I saw the nicest thing I thing I ever saw in all my born days. Or at least the nicest sight until my wedding night, and that's something I ain't about to describe to you. But I will describe what I saw in the hallway. I saw one very tall man, standing in the doorway of Miss Kitty's room with her in his arms just a hugging her for all he was worth.

Neither one of them said a word or did anything but hug each other, but they didn't need to. That there hug said and did it all. It was sort of a way for them to put the ugliness of that night behind them and move on forward to what lay before them with nothing more than the simple, yet complex, connection they had between them. You know, if I close my eyes, real tight, I can still see that hug and still see the love that just shimmered between them.

(Total silence)

Well, that's enough of that. You all wanted a story and I gave it to you. And I can see by that there empty bowl, one of ya even got yourself some peanuts. Now is there anything else I can do for you? Another story? (Raises brow). Well, maybe some other time but not today. I'm plum tuckered out now and I'm gonna have to go back to the bathroom here in a minute so I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you all to excuse me.

But I sure do want you all to know how much I appreciated you stopping by. At my age, I appreciate a smile when it's freely given, company's a bonus. Huh, oh yes, you have a nice day too. You all be careful now, and maybe I'll see ya again sometime.

Bye!


End file.
